BeatsMe wants to connect DJ's and party goers through mobile application

By Raphael Michilis

Social networking is quickly contaminating all segments of the current economy. More and more, success means popularity in the crammed cyber communities, and absence in those digital social spaces virtually means your product doesn’t exist, thus it doesn’t sell.

The music industry was one of the first to realize the social trend and sound waves flooded the now almost forgotten MySpace, with a countless number of artists setting up profiles and collecting followers.

Since then, singers and musicians have fought for a space in the internaut’s computer screen, but very few platforms dedicated to music have thrived and most of them left out a growing segment of music, the DJ’s.

Spotify has recently adapted its services to feature on Facebook updates, but it is still not dedicated to link the artists to their audience.

To build a bridge over this gap, the San Francisco-based startup BeatsMe Inc has initiated a Beta trial of its music social network mobile and web application.

The company aims to help DJ's promote their work and drive their audience up. On the other side of that bridge, BeatsMe promises to present new music to listeners bored of the sound they are used to.

The app lets DJs interact with their online audience as well as live and immediate connection with party goers at the club where they are palying.

Similar to Shazam app, BeatsMe identifies a song while it is being played and allows the audience to instantly buy the tune.

To raise capital and finance their idea, BeatsMe co-founder Joseph Brilliant is offering a batch of the company’s securities worth $1m for sales.

The “private offering” form was file today with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but did not have any buyer. The form is generally filed when the funding is concluded.

GlobalCollect partners with BOKU to offer mobile payment solution

By Raphael Michilis

Online payment service provider GlobalCollect has integrated technology from mobile payments firm BOKU to its international payment network, and will make mobile phone checkout available to its web merchants.

The new partnership will allow mobile payments as a mainstream payment vehicle and will give GlobalCollect merchants access to 4 bn potential new customers from BOKU’s mobile payment network of over 260 telcos in 67 countries.

“It [BOKU] was clearly the best option for our merchants, who now through the partnership can substantially increase checkout conversion, reduce cost and accelerate time to market of mobile payments, “ said John Snoek, GlobalCollect VP marketing, about the selection of BOKU as the company’s global partner for mobile payments.

BOKU's m-payments service will permit GlobalCollect's customers to shop online using their mobile number via SMS, and have purchases charged on their phone bill.

GlobalCollect renders BOKU's platform to help merchants complete backend work, such as foreign exchange, granular price points, multiple currencies and languages.

"Our merchant partners typically see significant, immediate increases in their market reach and checkout conversion, and we expect the same for GlobalCollect merchants," said James Patmore, BOKU senior vice-president.

The partnership leverages BOKU's pricing and transaction solutions built by experienced players including Amazon, Google, PayPal, Yahoo, Visa, BarclayCard, Bank of America, and AT&T.

BofA Merril releases iPad e-payments and e-invoicing app

By Raphael Michilis
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA ML) has launched an iPad app version of Paymode-X, the bank’s online payments and electronic invoicing solution powered by Bottomline Technologies.


The portable platform gives treasurers real-time access to critical corporate payments information, and mobility, allowing them to take actions to ensure that payment and settlement cycles continue to flow wherever they go.


“It’s an incredibly powerful tool, allowing businesses to remotely connect to their payments and invoicing system, and as a result, have better control, efficiency and predictability of their cash flow,” said Kevin Phalen, head of card and comprehensive payables at BofA ML.


Paymode-X connects users to a private network of over 185,000 suppliers that accept e-payments and send e-invoices, as well as supports paper cheque print services through single file integration.


In 2011, BofA ML clients processed over 88 millions of transactions worth more than $ 125bn through Paymode-X. 

iZettle raises $31.4m to fuel its global expansion

By Raphael Michilis
Social payments company iZettle has raised $31.4 million to pave its expansions plan.

The capital was acquired in two funding rounds (Series A and B) and will help the Stockholm-based company to break the Nordic frontiers across Europe and other markets where chip-cards are the standard, said Jacob de Geer, iZettle CEO. 


The company uses a mini chip-card reader and app to convert an iPhone or iPad into a credit card terminal and has initiated tests for commercial release in the UK.


iZettle funders list includes Greylock Partners, Northzone, SEB Private Equity, Index Ventures, Creandum and MasterCard. 


The iZettle British trial program doesn't accept payments with cards from Visa, which is an investor of similar product, Square, in the US.  

“iZettle is the first and only company to develop an affordable chip-card reader and app for smartphone-based mobile commerce that meets all of the rigorous international security requirements,” said Laurel Bowden, Greylock’s partner in London who is joining iZettle’s board of directors.

Aimed at small business entrepreneurs and self employed professionals, iZettle says its chip and signature product has contributed to increase by 10% the volume of points of sale (POS) in the Nordic countries where it operates:  Sweden since August 2011; Finland and Norway from February this year.

“There are currently about 20 million small businesses in Europe that only take cash or invoices, according to Eurostat. That’s a huge opportunity that only iZettle can address right now,” said Ben Holmes partner at Index Venture.

iZettle charges no monthly subscription, but collects a 2.75% to 3.75% fee per transaction made in Sweden. iZettle is PCI-DSS compliant and approved by Europay, MasterCard and VISA. It doesn’t store sensitive data on the device and information transfer is encrypted.


More about mobile POS:
Pagseguro and Nokia bring NFC payments to Brazil

Credit cards direct mail stumbled 33% in the US last April, says Mintel

By Raphael Michilis
The volume of credit cards offered by post in the US has fallen 33% in April, according to data from market researcher Mintel.

American households received 260 million offers for new credit cards last April, 130 million lower the amount put forward in the same month of 2011, and the lowest estimated monthly mail volume tracked in the past 25 months.

“April marks a new low for the credit card direct mail decline that began in December 2011,” says Andrew Davidson, senior vice president at Mintel Comperemedia.

He predicted the annual volume of credit cards directly mailed in the US will also take a plunge.

“Credit card direct mail volume will be significantly lower in 2012 than 2011,” he said without risking an exact figure.

Despite the numbers, Davison has a somewhat optimistic position and said the downturn is not a sign of a long term trend, just a “temporary hiatus” in the activity, and other advertising modalities are supporting this “traditional channel”, rather than replacing it.

The fall is result of a “more cautious approach” adopted by the issuers due to an uncertain economic atmosphere, said Davison.

He explained that credit card direct mail is cyclical, and it will return to its normal volume levels along with the regain economic confidence in the US.

“For credit card issuers this is a great time to be in the mail. The mailbox is less cluttered and it is easier to get consumers to notice your message,” suggested Davison.

Atos acquires Dutch e-payments business Quality Equipment

By Raphael Michilis
France-headquartered IT services company Atos has incorporated its Dutch partner, the electronic payments firm Quality Equipment.

The acquisition is part of Atos global expansion strategy, and the firm expects to become leader in end-to-end coverage of terminals and merchants services in the Netherlands.

“Atos acquires a company in its core business located in the Benelux where the Group is already working with large customers, and has a leading market position. We will be able to offer value added services with an enriched payment services portfolio to our customers in the Benelux and across Europe,” said Marc-Henri Desportes, Atos executive vice president of Hi-Tech Transactional Services (HTTS).

The deal adds payment systems expertise to Atos portfolio in areas such as identification, access management and is an all-in-one supplier of PIN terminals for various applications.

Atos will merger Quality Equipment to its HTTS and electronic payments arm, and benefit from Quality Equipement's market share for terminal activity high growth rate, which increased by 20% from 2010 to 2011.

“This transaction is fully in line with the strategy of the group to grow its HTTS activities and to strengthen its international position in the payments area,” said Desportes.

The French company, which employs 74,000 employees in 48 countries, said the acquisition will help them build a European competence centre for value added services for merchants.

Giftango’s digital vouchers enter the European market

By Raphael Michilis
American digital gift card corporation Giftango has kicked off its European expansion plans with the opening of an office in Ireland and the partaking of its first ten partners in the UK.

This bigger step comes after about a year of “conversations with leading European merchants and the corporate programs that buy gift cards from them,” said Marcell King, vice-president of Merchant and International Development for Giftango.

Giftango will supply its partners’ customers with digital coupons issued nearly instantly,that will replace the currently printed gift cards and coupons that take days to be issues and received by post.

“We love that our program participants will now be able to receive their vouchers by email or SMS to their PC’s and smart phones,” says Kevin Lake, CEO of Countdown a loyalty program firm operated by MB Solutions (Holdings) Limited, and one of Giftango first partners in the UK.


“We’ve been a long- time proponent of delivering digital vouchers in our programs. It’s great for the consumer, it’s great for the merchant, and it’s great for us. We’re excited that our partnership with Giftango will enable us to expand our portfolio of digital vouchers,” said  Jonathan Grey, CEO of Ovation Incentives, another Giftango UK partner. 

The first lots of digital cards will be aimed to the corporate segment, which accounted for 52% of the total vouchers sales in the UK in 2011, according to Giftango.

“We learned a few things taking this thoughtful approach. The UK B2B gift card market is poised to yield a very high return for those corporations and merchants launching digital gift cards. The opportunities for digital gifting developing in both the mobile and social markets cannot be denied. Today we’re introducing a corporate eGift product that fits the UK market,” said King.

Giftango’s digital coupon B2B Channel Program will initially include Marriott, Hotel Voucher Shop, Theatre Tokens, Travelocity Gift Cards and SpaFinder.

Reserve Bank of Australia to stop credit card surcharges

By Raphael Michilis
The era of abusive credit cards fees in Australian retailers might soon come to an end, as the Reserve Bank of Australia announced today that merchants will be forbidden to profit from credit card fees.

The new rules set by RBA’s Payment System Board determines that , from 1st January 2013, Australian retailers will be allowed to only charge customers fees enough to cover their expenses with the card transaction.

"The bank believes that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that such practices [credit card surcharges] are now relatively widespread and that the use of the freedoms provided to merchants by the (previous) surcharging reforms is (sic) no longer entirely in line with the original intent of the reforms," said RBA in an official statement.

The new regulation will also allow card providers such as Visa and MasterCard to take action against businesses who charge excessive fees.

"The Bank intends that its variation will improve price signals by enabling a card scheme to address cases where merchants are clearly surcharging at a higher level than is justified for acceptance of its card products."

The Reserve Bank of Australia has also commenced a re-evaluation of the system governing EFTPOS (electronic debit card) transactions and said a new regulation might come into force by January 2014.


Related article:


Reserve Bank of Australia to lead mobile payments

Romania launches e-invoice pilot for VAT refunds

By Raphael Michilis

Romanian Ministry of Communications have teamed up with the Ministry of Finance and NAFA (the National Agency for Fiscal Administration) to launch an e-invoice pilot project that will allow businesses to file for VAT reimbursement via internet.

The new service will provide Romanian companies with online forms supposed to facilitate VAT recovery.

The system will allow real-time validation of each value completed in the forms, eliminating possible errors and excluding the Finance department from the process.

“A form with a validation of fields filled with a flowchart on the back can only be a sign of fairness. We want to eliminate things that annoys everyone, to eliminate the things that can be interpreted so, and so by officials” said Dan Nica, Romanian minister of communications.

The Romanian e-invoicing project will cost approximately € 3m to its financier, the EU, and will involve about 100.000 companies.

“We do not want a pilot project with 10 companies, but have 100,000 companies in the pilot. We want SMEs to be involved in this project. We hope to start this project immediately,” said Nica. 

Archives - Oberthur Technologies brings smart card technology to SocGen Romania sub BRD

By Raphael Michilis
26 April 2012
Oberthur Technologies has inked a deal with BRD, Société Générale’s subsidiary in Romania, to provide new payment technology for the bank’s card portfolio.

Oberthur will supply BRD with a multi-application dual interface payment card, which has built-in capabilities for transport, access control as well as contactless payment options, based on MasterCard’s PayPass.

The MultiPass Transport card is one of the products originated from this deal. Issued in collaboration with RATB and Metrorex - the transport operators of Bucharest - the transport card will allow commuters to simply wave their card in front of validators on buses, tram and metro.

“Such multi-application payment cards combining services used everyday, like usual payment and public transport access, or linked to their preferences, hobbies or lifestyle, enable us to strengthen our relationship with our existing customers, while attracting new ones,” said Ciprian Nicolae, projects director-cards department at BRD.

“We are now proposing to our customers packaged offerings targeting precise markets such as transport, universities, sport fans, corporate badges, or frequent flyer cards,” said Eric Duforest, managing director Europe at Oberthur Technologies.

Additionally, the two companies will bring out a football card called Supporter Card. This will be in co-operation with several Romanian League 1 football clubs and will grant access to stadiums, where turnstiles are fitted with contactless technology.

The Support Card can be personalised using a design from a gallery on the BRD website or by uploading a personal photo.

BRD customers can also make contactless payments using stickers attached to the back of their mobile phones.

Olympics and Queen’s Jubilee boost TestLink ATM parts sales by 15%

By Raphael Michilis
ATM supplier TestLink has reported that celebrations of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics have propelled a 15% increase in ATM parts sales in the past two months in the UK.

The UK and Czech Republic-based company said the Jubilee was responsible for “a significant rise in ATM transaction volumes” and that the Olympics will increase the UK’s demand for cash even further.

Financial service providers will make every effort “to ensure that high levels of ATM availability are maintained for both UK and international guests during this time,” said the ATM supplier.

“Such high levels of cash transactions will inevitably drive more maintenance calls and parts requirements,” said Greg Hughes, TestLink Managing Director.

TestLink says the volume of requests for ATM parts, such as configured currency cassettes, have went up 50% compared to the first semester of 2011; and it is preparing its stock to a continuous growth of demand.

“[TestLink] has worked closely with its field maintenance customers to ensure there will be sufficient inventory in place at the key Olympic sites to ensure levels of ATM availability are maintained,” said Hughes.

Reserve Bank of Australia to lead mobile payments

By Raphael Michilis

Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will take the lead to speed up the architecture of Australian payments system towards mobile phone age.

Although "the notion that a regulator should be involved in matters of innovation might be seen as inconsistent with the regulatory philosophy in Australia," the bank will take "a stronger role" in modernising the country’s payments infrastructure, said Glenn Stevens, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor.

According to Stevens, Australia’s payments service is limited and has changed very little in the pas 30 years, despite technology evolution.

He said that the system is “a bit dated” and that "co-operative decision-making between competitors is notoriously difficult", thus RBA would "ensure any disconnect between the public interest and the business case is properly managed".

"Australians can make internet bank transactions relatively easy but we still have some way to go facilitating payments via mobile phones," said Chris Hamilton, chief executive of the Australian Payments Clearing Corporation.

Mr Hamilton said retail non-cash payments accounted for only 2% of total payments by value today, but consumers could look forward to real-time, person-to-person payments instead of waiting one or two days for their transactions to be fully processed, as they do now.

Union Bank of India, NCR Corporation launch talking ATM for visually impaired

By Raphael Michilis

The Union Bank of India and the manufacturer NCR Corporation launched the country’s first ATM for visually-impaired and other physically-challenged customers.

The cash dispenser, dubbed talking ATM, gives customers instructions through a headphone and is fitted with Braille keyboard.

The machine was installed at the campus of the Blind People’s Association and is accessible with wheelchair.

“This ATM will prove to be a milestone, “ said Shri D. Sarkar, Union Bank of India Chairman and Managing Director, during the ATM’s launch. 

The first talking ATM is also the bank’s 4,000^th ATM, and meets demands of a 2008/2009 Reserve Bank of India circular which determines the offer of ‘ATM for differently-abled’ customers.

The talking ATM will also support transactions using cards from other banks, informed UBI.

The state-owned bank informed it plans to install 5000 ATMs by end of March 2013, but did not specify how many will be dedicated to disabled people.

Despite its inclusive nature, the talking ATM has also inspired criticism in that country. The Indian newspaper Rupee Times raised concerns around the safety features of the new device.

“Currently there are security questions as the screens would not be blanked while in use, compromising the security of the user,” read the article published on July 7.

Vodafone and O2 join up to roll out 4G

Vodafone and Telefonica, controller of O2 in the UK, will share a network infrastructure to rollout the 4G technology in Britain.
The joint venture was announced yesterday and the telecoms will remain competitors and will not join wireless spectrum, share core network or customers data.

Alternative mobile wallets intimidate banks

By Raphael Michilis
Almost half of American consumers (48%) wish to use a mobile wallet and would consider alternative players for banking services, according to a study published on 4 June by financial researcher Carlisle & Gallagher Consulting Group (CG).

Peter Olynick, CG’s Card & Payments Practice leader, estimates that “within five years, half of today’s smart phone owners will be using their phones and mobile wallets as their preferred method for payments”, causing banks to loose market share in the future if they don’t act now.

“The competitive threat from new entrants is real. Consumers are open to considering alternatives to their primary banks to provide mobile wallets and even core banking services,” said Olynick.

“Banks need to proactively consider how their products will stay ‘top of wallet’ in the new mobile wallet world,” he said.

Among the mobile wallets enthusiastic consumers heard by the survey, 80% said they would choose PayPal as their m-wallet and primary bank alternative if it offered banking services.

Google would be the option for 60% of them. Other 60% of consumers interested in m-wallets would also consider using Apple as their banking services player and digital wallet, although the company does not offer such services.

Mobile wallets make an efficient way to trim down consumers’ credit card frustration with the volume of offers they receive, keeping track of payment due dates, and their inability to track terms and conditions for each of their cards, according to the study.

Minimizing interest payments, maximising loyalty programs and ability to make better payments were rated as the most valuable advantages of digital wallets services for 65% of consumers. Other consumers said they believe m-wallets make shopping easier, faster and more fun.

Combining these features in customized mobile wallets may help banks keeping customers satisfied and reducing market share loss, concludes the survey that heard 605 American consumers in April.

First Data provides prepaid payroll solution for Sentric

By Raphael Michilis
Payment processor First Data has developed a new prepaid payroll solution in partnership with US software and payroll services company Sentric.

The BRIO Card aims to reduce the volume of paper pay checks and statements issued to the 200,000 people employed by Sentric’s payroll clients.

“In addition to our traditional direct deposit service, our clients can offer their employees, those with and without bank accounts, immediate access to funds on pay day without a fee and with the added convenience of accessing their cash at thousands of locations nationwide using their BRIO Card,” said Mike Maggs, CEO at Sentric.

The prepaid BRIO cards will make workers’ funds available across the MasterCard networkincluding stores, online and over the phone.


“Users can manage their accounts with features such as checking their account balance online and by phone; receiving balance updates via text or email; and loading funds from various sources including a second job, child support and government benefits, " said Mark Putman, senior vice president, Prepaid Solutions, First Data.

"Our clients, especially those who share our vision for environmental sustainability, can now offer every employee a green option for receiving their wages on pay day,” completed Maggs.

Sentric supplies thousands of middle-market organisations across the US with cloud-based personnel management software. The platform includes payroll, human resources, and time and labour management solutions.

Fashion brand Hayward Luxury raises $1,5m

By Raphael Michilis

Los Angeles-based fashion brand Hayward Luxury Incorporated has raised nearly $1,5m in a private equity funding round registered at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) early this week.

According to notice filed at SEC, ten investors took part in the funding round of the brand created in 2007 by Marin Hopper, granddaughter of Hollywood agent and producer Leland Hayward.

The deal was co-signed by Hopper and Hayward Luxury’s CEO, John Goldstone, who might receive together $12,023 from the offering, according to SEC files.  

The document also shows that a total of $517,533 of the stock offering remained unsold.

Small business online community Manta.com estimates that Hayward Luxury has annual revenue of $200,000 and has two employees only.  

Hayward Luxury produces women’s handbag and accessories inspired in the lifestyle of Hopper’s grandfather.


Related article:

Colcci showcases its name in Mayfair

Children's e-wallet Virtual Piggy raises $ 8.5m in private fundings

By Raphael Michilis

US-based financial platform for children Virtual Piggy has pooled $8.5m with the selling of its stocks in few private funding rounds early last April and May.

The last transaction was registered at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 13 and the amount was confirmed by a Virtual Piggy spokesperson.

According to the notice filed at SEC, the capital comes from different investors including Fiordaliso LTD and FEQ Realty.

In the contracts signed with Virtual Piggy, the new shareholders acquired opening tranches of common stocks and agreed to buy future lots in monthly closings until November this year.

The company refused to say how the funding will change the company operations.

One of the SEC document reports that more than 70 investors took part in the funding rounds and each buyer purchased initial aggregates of around 150,000 common stock units.

Each unit was composed of two shares of Virtual Piggy’s common stock and a warrant to buy an extra share.

The units’ value ranged from $ 0.6125 to $0.80 and the shares were worth between £0.40 and $1.

The company refused to comment the matter, at least until next week.

Earlier this year, Virtual Piggy’s CEO and founder Jo Webber hailed the platform as the first payment system to allow children under 13 years of age make legal online purchases, with parents dictating the limits. 

Barclaycard says PayTag experiences a phenomenal success

By Raphael Michilis
The volume of Barclaycard NFC sticker cards PayTag issued is increasing and the company is optimistic about the customer’s adoption of the technology.
“The take up of the PayTag has been phenomenally successful. I can’t tell the exact number yet, but we are pretty please with the results,” said Tom Gregory, Head of Digital payments at Barclaycard during a webinar on 31 May.


Tom Gregory said yet that the volume of point of sales (POS) compatible with NFC technology in the United Kingdom will soar 50% in 2012, predicts Barclaycard.


“There are 100,000 [NFC enabled] payment terminals in the UK today. And this number will reach 150,000 till the end of the year,” said the Barclaycard executive.


On the other had, a research by technology advisory company Gartner foresees that while global mobile payment in general should soar by 62% in 2012, the volume of NFC transactions will remain rather low until 2015, with substantial growth beginning only in 2016.


“There are so many predictions, some pretty different,” but for now NFC “level is beginning to rise and we are pretty happy”, said Gregory about Gartner findings.


He believes the spread of the NFC technology in the UK will be boosted by adoption of major players like Transport for London (TfL). He expects the public transport and other large initiatives will encourage usage, and improve awareness of the technology.


“We are getting balance of adoption and awareness. This is moving in the right direction. NFC is the future. We are investing in it because we believe, we have confidence in the technology,” said the Barclaycard executive.


Asked if Barclaycard plans to invest in mobile payment alternatives to NFC, he said the company “will continue monitoring” other technologies and change strategy if necessary. 


The finance and technology industries’ confidence in the Near Field Communication payments was corroborated earlier this week, when executives from MasterCard, Sony, Intel among others stood up for the technology during the Smart Card Alliance’s NFC Solutions Summit 2012.


The group said NFC will improve the shopper experience at the POS and in on a daily basis interactions.


NFC is “getting well along the way to mass market adoption,” said James Anderson, MasterCard’s senior vice president of Mobile and Emerging Payments.


Security 
Tom Gregory also contradicted concerns about security and said the technology is safe.


He didn’t reveal the number of fraudsters attacks to Barclaycard NFC products, but said the card registered a “very small volume of fraud transactions related to the PayTag.”


Frauds generally occur in small transactions and are linked to merchants’ inappropriate identification of the purchaser.


The Barclaycard executive reassured that the customers will be reimbursed of any undue purchase, and those merchants who decide not to do full verification of customer data might be held liable.


Availability
Despite the incipient release NFC fitted mobile devices, Barclaycard is still optimistic about the Near Field Communication payments.

According to Tom Gregory, the contactless sticker card, PayTag is a bridge to the technology till when NFC fitted devices are more commonly available.

“We don’t know when every android mobile or iPhone will have NFC. until that happens we’ll use the tags.”

Etihad Airways offers free night in Abu Dhabi 5-star hotels

Etihad Airways offered two nights at Yas Hotel, plus
limousine transfers to first class passengers in 2011

By Raphael Michilis

United Arab Emirates-based Etihad Airways is offering one free hotel night to passengers in a layover of minimum two nights in Abu Dhabi before 1 December.

Etihad passengers can choose from a list of 25 hotels rated three to five stars  in the UAE capital, but have to be on a trip that goes beyond Abu Dhabi. 

“This offer is intended to encourage people to make time to get off the aircraft at Abu Dhabi and explore the emirate – be that with a visit to the Arabian desert, a trip to one of the world’s largest mosques, a tour of the attractions on Yas Island or by sampling the emirate’s world class hotels and restaurant," said Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways Chief Commercial Officer.

Extra stay at the Abu Dhabi hotels selection can also be booked with a discounts.

Rooms in a four or five star hotel can be booked from $59 in the offer, while a three-star accommodations are offered for a starting price of $45.  

The program also grants 'bargains' such as two-for-one deals at Ferrari World, Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, Abu Dhabi Golf Club, Yas Links and Monte Carlo Beach Club, safaris or tours with Desert Safari and Abu Dhabi City Tour.

The Essential Stopover program offer is available to all Etihad Airways guests, as well to passengers travelling on Etihad Airways-marketed flights.
The offer, is part of the Essential Abu Dhabi program that, in 2011, rewarded two and three free nights at the Qasr Al Sarab and Yas Hotel to customers in first and business classes.

Stagecoach trials Everything Everywhere NFC bus tickets in the UK

By Raphael Michilis
Stagecoach, one of the UK’s largest bus and rail operators, and mobile operator Everything Everywhere have teamed up to launch an NFC payments initiative in Cambridgeshire.

The project is still on trial, but it is said to be “the UK’s first government-standard commercial deployment of mobile contactless transport ticketing,” according to Everything Everywhere.

The new service is being tested by a small group of passengers that can receive, store and authenticate their bus ticket via NFC enabled mobile devices, which are built-in with an app designed for the pre-existing local bus network’s smart card readers.

The trial participants are using handsets featuring the Orange and Barclaycard Quick Tap, supplied by Everything Everywhere.

The trial takes place on Cambridgeshire bus routes, including the Cambridge Park & Ride and Guided Busway, and might be extended nationwide in 2013, depending on the success of the experiment.

"Once this trial is complete, we will carry out a review of the findings and assess the potential to expand the scheme further for our passengers,"said Martin Griffiths, Stagecoach finance director.

Stagecoach has a fleet of 7,700 buses that serves about 2.5 million passengers every day, and, according to Everything Everywhere, the joint initiative will help meeting government Government’s requirement to have most of public transport journeys using smart ticketing by December 2014.

Tata Docomo launches Twitter mobile top up in India

By Raphael Michilis
More and more businesses around the globe are focusing on the social networking generation and launching initiatives dedicated to that segment – and the convergence with payments is accelerating.

The latest to do so was Indian mobile service provider Tata Docomo, which is rolling out Twittcom, an alternative service that permits its GSM prepaid customers to register their phone number and top up their accounts through the social network Twitter.

"With the increasing consumption of internet and the rise of social media, it makes ample sense to be present on the medium where people are spending time at present or they are likely to spend time in the future," said  Ritesh Ghosal, head of brand marketing at Tata Teleservices.

To register their account, customers have to post a tweet to @tatadocomo typing their mobile number preceded by the hashtag #reg (#reg 000000000).

Tata then sends a verification pin code via SMS that should be tweeted again at the handle @tatadocomo after the hashtag #code (#code 0000000000). The @tatadocomo handle will post back this tweet confirming the registration.

To activate a value-added service via Twitter, the subscriber needs to again type the @tatadocomo handle and the following #act# service value. The confirmation of the successful top up will also come in the form of a tweet.

Although these steps mean that customers’ personal data will be posted in the public environment of a social network, such as their mobile number, Tata Docomo is optimistic about the initiative."Our community on Facebook is amongst the strongest in the world and Twitter too will reach the same levels quite soon,” pondered Ghosal.

Barclaycard terminates its loyalty programme Freedom

By Raphael Michilis

Barclaycard has announced it is ceasing the offer of rewards through its Freedom loyalty scheme. And customers have until 26 July to redeem the rewards accumulated in the programme.

Although available to "over eight million cardholders", Freedom was being used by just over a million customers.

The unpopularity of the programme, the third biggest in the UK at launch two years ago, is attributed to limitations imposed to earning and redemption of rewards. 

The points were only granted for spending in selected stores and could only be redeemed at an even more reduced range of retailers.

The expenditure-rewards ratio in the Freedom scheme were also smaller than the offered by other programmes.

Barclaycard Freedom customers were rewarded 1%, and even less, of their spend in most of the for most of partners outlets.

Capital One loyalty card offers 5% in the first rewards, going to 1.25% after the third month. Santander 321 card gives from 1.5% to 3% reward, although it charges an annual fee.

Barclaycard said it is designing two new loyalty schemes to be launched by the end of 2012.

"These will provide tailored and valuable offers from thousands of retailers and allow participating consumers to earn freedom rewards on all spend, both at home and abroad," a spokesman said.

The credit card operator did not release further details.

Redemption

Earnings in the Freedom programme will cease on 21 June. 

Most cardholders will have their remaining rewards automatically credited to their account. However, those who have not used their cards in the last six months and have less than £3 rewards balance need to contact Barclaycard to redeem their points.

Zynga, AmEx offer prepaid card with FarmVille rewards

By Raphael Michilis
Zynga social games and American Express (AmEx) have teamed up to offer a co-branded prepaid debit card that rewards consumers with virtual currency and goods on FarmVille when they make purchases with their AmEx.

FarmVille players can subscribe for the Zinga Serve Rewards programme and will receive a card in the mail. The prepaid card can be loaded with credit via a bank account, debit card, credit card or with cash.

The Farm Cash Rewards will be only offered for the first five purchases worth $25 or more. But the programme will continue to expand, AmEx and Zynga said, and all purchases will receive in-game rewards tracked through an in-game control panel.

The companies’ plan is to extend the virtual money rewards to other games, including CityVille and CastleVille.

The two companies have linked virtual and real currency before.

Two years ago, they offered in-game rewards via the AmEx Membership Rewards programme.

In 2010, Zynga started to sell prepaid FarmVille cards at 7-eleven stores.

A couple of years ago, AmEx commenced its social media appeal to young consumers, launching programmes based on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare.

Mobile users in Zimbabwe can borrow airtime from UK Lendme

Raphael Michilis 

UK-based and Africa-focused startup Lendme has kick-started its mobile airtime loan service in Zimbabwe. 

The platform permits subscribers to borrow credit worth up to $ 20 to top up their pay-as-you-go mobile account. Lendme promises not to charge users if the loan is paid back within seven days, and subscribers will not need to commit to a contract.  

“We don’t charge you a single cent! Just register, there are no strings attached,” the company says on its website.

The mobile credit can be paid back using a Lendme e-voucher, sold at over 500 merchants in Zimbabwe. The e-voucher denominations currently range from $ 0.25 to $ 5.00.

Lendme also plans to extend the offer of its e-voucher to lend money, so subscribers can borrow up to $ 100 to make payments on e-commerce.

  

Prior to the launch Lendme carried a user acceptance testing (beta testing) and Facebook campaign that distributed top-ups worth $10 to $ 50 to those who referred new subscribers.

“We recognise the inherent burdens airtime pre-payment inflicts on consumers hence, we have launched Lendme Airtime in Zimbabwe,” said Michael Charangwa, Lendme co-founder. 

ARCHIVES-Visa: e-gov payments made in 90% of countries

By Raphael Michilis
25 April 2012
Countries around the globe have continued investing in electronic payment methods despite the economic downturn and austerity measures, says the 2011 Government e-payments Adoption Ranking (GEAR), a study commissioned by Visa and published by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

More than one-third of the 62 countries included in the 2011 GEAR study received the highest possible score for their efforts to promote e-payment security. And more than 90% of the countries have systems in place to enable citizens to calculate and file their income taxes.

“The overall trend since 2007 is for governments to continue to make commitments to the development of e-payment platforms. There is increased ease and efficiency in the way citizens and businesses conduct transactions with their governments," said Lucy Hurst, associate director of custom research at EIU.

The study shows that the e-government initiatives have grown in correlation to the rise in alternative payment methods and broadband networks. The majority of the countries included in the survey have developed 3G, 4G and other mobile phone technologies, according to the study.

Along with security systems, this improvement is gradually bringing consumers to trust in governmental electronic payments alternatives, Visa concluded.



Key statistics

Other key trends observed by the 2011 GEAR included:
More than 86% of national governments have a VAT or tax collection system,
About 84% of the countries have a system for the collection of fines and tolls,76% percent of the governments surveyed have a procurement system in place.

Trust is the “key barrier to citizen adoption of government e-payments”, according to Visa and the EIU.

Despite the growth of e-gov initiatives observed since 2007, e-payments still have little penetration in services like obtaining/paying for an ID card, requesting unemployment, workers' compensation and welfare benefits, and disbursement of loans to businesses, reported EIU.



Study profile

GEAR 2011 analysed the performance of 62 countries for 37 indicators across the categories: Citizen-to-Government; Government-to-Citizen; Business-to-Government; Government-to-Business; Infrastructure; Social and Economic Context; and Policy Context.

The countries included in the EIU report account for more than 80% of world population and an estimated 94% of total world GDP.

The GEAR study also looked to the future and estimated that e-gov initiatives implementation and improvements will come along with varied transformations in several countries. Amongst them, the report foresees that:

·         Financial inclusion, particularly in the developing world, is likely to get a boost from the roll out of mobile banking services. Countries in Africa and Latin America are expected to see particularly strong gains in this area.

·         Mobile payments will likely see a huge uptake in the coming years. With more than 5 billion mobile phone users worldwide, mobile payments are likely to boom.

·         Automating standard services such as tax payments/refunds and social security contributions will likely be prioritized over other e-payment services.

·         E-payment security will remain an important issue to address and developing proven security measures will be necessary for the uptake of e-payments to flourish.

·         Public/private-sector collaboration on e-payment initiatives is likely to continue as governments try to do more with fewer resources. 

Russian North Credit Bank deploys BPC SmartVista

By Raphael Michilis 

Russia-based North CreditBank (NCB) has implemented payment processing solutions from Russia-headquartered BPC BankingTechnologies with the aim of improving the efficiency and flexibility of its operations.

BPC’s multifunctionalplatform SmartVista will replace a legacy processing system. According to thebank, the existing platform

hampered its capacity to launchnew products and expand its range of services.

Use of the BPC SmartVistasystem will enable the bank to meet Visa and MasterCard’s smartcard issuecertifications.

“Not only will SmartVistaenable us to launch new card products quickly and help us ensure that our ATMnetwork is operating at peak efficiency but it will also help eliminate fraud,” saidDmitry Sychev, NCB head of IT.

The retail unit of the bank will also deploy BPC’s SmartIssuer and SmartProproducts to integrate its card management and card production solutions.

The two components will provide NCB with an end-to-end credit card solution formagnetic and smart card personalisation, simplifying the design of new cardproducts. 

Free gifts make number of Wrapp users expand 66% in two months

By Raphael MichilisWrapp, the Swedish social e-gifting start-up, has enjoyed a phenomenal April and May.

By the end of May, Wrapp had attracted nearly 250,000 users, an increase of 100,000 compared to the end of March.

In the past two months, Wrapp users gifted 700,000 digital vouchers to friends via Facebook; in the first quarter of 2012, total Wrapp gifts totalled 1m.

In the US, Wrapp has enjoyed early success. Since launching last November, the app has featured in the top 25 Apple iTunes chart in the social networking category.

Wrapp was founded in 2011 and has attracted investment of USD10.5m, including backing from Niklas Zennström, Skype co-founder.

At the time of joining the Wrapp board of directors last year, Zennström said in a statement:

“Wrapp is targeting a huge market by leveraging two mega-trends: social networks and smartphones.”

In addition to selling gift cards from major retailers, Wrapp permits the user to send digital vouchers to friends via Facebook for free.

Free gift cards are uploaded everyday to the application by partner retailers, helping to boost Wrapp popularity.

The social gifting craze is attractive to merchants as a marketing weapon, as it provides access to customer data that can be used in highly targeted advertising operations.

Wrapp’s marketing highlights that the merchant is also rewarded with a friend-to-friend automated advertising campaign, as “each gift card posted on a recipient’s Facebook timeline or wall is seen by about 80% of their friends.”

According to Wrapp, the associated brands’ average sales are worth around four to six times the value of the free vouchers they provide, helping Wrapp gain popularity among suppliers.

Wrapp has reportedly signed up around 70 major retailers in the US and Europe, with 20 signing up since the end of March.

Global expansion
Already up and running in the US, Norway Sweden and the UK, Wrapp has plans to expand into another a number of other countries including Brazil, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, Australia and Turkey.

At the end of May, Wrapp kicked of its service in Finland and opened an office in Poland.

The buzz created by the launch of Wrapp has also attracted a competitor offering from a German-based start-up, DropGifts.

DropGrifts' service offers free vouchers and, like Wrapp, allows several users to contribute to a single gift.

The digital vouchers can be converted into meals at restaurants, gym and magazine subscriptions, clothing and many other products and can be redeemed online or in person at a partner retailer.

Wrapp’s coupon is purely digital and cannot be printed, so the receiver has to present a smart device at store to be redeemed. By contrast, the DropGift version can be printed or even posted to the recipient’s home address in a physical version.

Other gift cards apps include US-based FreebeeCards. It went live on 21 May and enables Iowa-based companies to offer free gifts, rewards and discounts in the form of vouchers that can be redeemed via a smartphone or printed.

The value of the first FreebeeCards ranged from USD 6 to USD 1000, exchangeable at Jasper Winery and Farrell’s eXtreme Body Shaping gym club.

Wrapp opens office to offer free e-gifts in Poland

By Raphael Michilis
Swedish company Bohemian Wrappsody has announced it will soon launch its social gifting application Wrapp in Poland.

Wrapp has just opened its office in Warsaw in association with the online entrepreneur Lukasz Wejchert, developer of the mobile focused company Dirlango.

The company is now negotiating partnerships with Polish merchants to initiate its operations in the country.

Wrapp connects to Facebook and allow the users to send paid or even free electronic gift cards to their friends in the social network through a smart mobile device or a computer.

Wrapp partner retailers offer free gift cards daily. In the past five months nearly 250,000 users have given their Facebook friends over 1.7 million free gift cards that could be redeemed in stores controlled by about 70 US and European retailers, according to Bohemian Wrappsody.

The gift cards can be redeemed online or in person at a Wrapp partner retailer, in this case, the receiver has to present a smart device as the service “is purely digital,” and the electronic voucher cannot be printed.

Wrapp operates in the US, Norway Sweden and the UK, and already has plans to launch in Poland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Finland, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Turkey and Brazil.

Queen's visit slow down traffic in Piccadilly

Raphael Michilis 

23 May 2012

from a bus 14 in London

It is 19.23pm and the traffic is very slow in Piccadilly, Central London. 

My bus, the route 14 to Fulham road, got stuck in front of The Royal Academy of Arts, where Her Majesty The Queen and other members of the royal family attended a Diamond Jubilee celebration of the arts and the exhibition of the British photographer Terry O'Neill.

The bus took more than 45 minuntes to go from Piccadilly station to Green Park station, while paparazi and curious people gathered in front of the museum. 

"Terry is at The Royal Academy of Artsd to meet The Queen in this glorious day," twitted O'Neil.

In normal conditions, the same half a mile trip should take about eight minutes on foot, according to my map phone application (see photo).

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SmartPay brings new e-payment platform to Zimbabwe

By Raphael Michilis
SmartPay has launched their new electronic payments platform Universal Electronic Payments System (UEPS) Switch in Zimbabwe, which the company claims is the first of its kind in the country.

The company says UEPS Switch is set to ease banking problems in Zimbabwe.

The UEPS Switch will enable settlement of inter-bank claims and link the payment systems of all banks, savings and loans companies, and building societies in Zimbabwe.

The platform will also serve the underbanked and unbanked segments of the country, enabling customers to load and spend e-cash, and other online transactions.

In addition, the platform is said to allow its users to make electronic payments even if they are offline.

SmartPay states on its website that “customers are able to effect transactions ‘offline’ in underdeveloped areas where power and communication infrastructure maybe lacking.”

SmartPay counts on a growing mobile market to support its business  in Zimbabwe. Mobile phone penetration rocketed from 40% in 2010 to 66% in 2011.

SmartPay also brings a biometric smartcard that provides a new and secure way to pay for goods and services throughout the country based on fingerprint identification.

The smartcards can engage in sophisticated transaction processing while offline, where security is ensured by data encryption and biometric control.

All transactions happen from the connection between a customer card and another card through a Point of Sale (POS) or an ATM. There is no minimum income requirement for individuals to acquire a SmartPay smartcards.

Users should also be able to get interest of their card balances, says the company website.

Housewives fight legislation that stops them from having a credit card

By Raphael Michilis

A group of discontent housewives started an online petition to fight the Credit CARD Act of 2009.

The group complains that the regulation prevents them from getting a credit card without her husband’s permission as they do not have proof of income.

“This is despite the fact that I make 95% of our household purchases, have an impeccable credit score and handle the majority of my family’s finances,” complains Holly McCall, author of the petition hosted at www.change.org.

“The new rules send a message that stay-at-home parents are not as credit-worthy as young adults still in school without their own income.” reads the petition about the .

The petition initiated in partnership with the online mother’s group momsrising.com appeals for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to fix the stay-at-home moms credit problem.

Meant to curb irresponsible lending and misleading credit card practices, the law denies credit to stay-at-home moms who say the Act sets women back half a century. "It is demeaning," said Holly McCall.


"This doesn't just affect stay-at-home mothers. What about the stay-at-home fathers whose wives work instead of them? And don't tell me that doesn't happen. It does. The longer this law stays unchanged the more people that are going to get hurt," protested Christian Ramage, who signed the online petition.

The Credit Union Times (CUT) newspaper reported on May 18 that Richard Cordray Director of the CFPB met McCall and received from her the petition, that - according to its profile at change.org - has reached 34,795 online signatures to date.

"As we've said previously, we are working to understand how the rule may be affecting stay-at-home spouses," said a CFPB spokesperson to the Huffington Post.

Cordray discussed the matter with Holly McCall and promised to come up with a response to her petition within 30 days from their meeting.

Europe accounts for 47% of world payments in renminbi

By Raphael Michilis

24 April 2012 

Europe has overtaken Asia Pacific in the use of the Chinese renminbi for global payments in the first quarter of 2012, according to the report RMB Tracker by Swift, the payments and messaging platform.

Aside from China and Hong Kong, Europe is the biggest contributor to RMB offshore transactions, accounting for 47% of the payments in renminbi worldwide. Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific’s share in RMB payments declined from 59% to 41%

RMB represented 6.7% of all European payments with China and Hong Kong in Q1 2012, an adoption rate slightly lower than the 7.2% observed in transactions with Asia Pacific countries.

However, European contribution to RMB payments is still more significant than its counterpart’s, thanks to its bigger absolute payments value.  The contribution in absolute value to RMB payments from several European countries is also bigger than that of many Asia-Pacific countries.

UK-based financial institutions are leading the City of London to be the next major offshore RMB centre. It did 30% of RMB payments and 46% of RMB FX in Q4 2011, staying on par with Singapore in RMB payments and first in RMB FX for the same period.

Africa and the Middle East also showed strong adoption of the RMB, but the overall value is still really small, the Swift report shows.

Adoption in the US and Canada was relatively good for that period, but nearly zero in Latin America.

Renminbi in numbers:

• 8.6% was the average growth of global payments from February to March

• 13.2% was the RMB growth for the same period, with its share climbing from 0.33% to 0.35%

• 16th was the position occupied by the RMB in the currency global ranking, after leaving the position 17th in February

Americans want mobile app to redeem credit card rewards while on summer holidays

Raphael Michilis
Mobile phones and tablets will be American travellers’ best friend this summer, says the financial corporation Capital One, in the Rewards Barometer research, conducted by BIGinsight.
 
The study heard more than thousand American credit cards rewards holder, who said they will use their mobile devices to find local hot spot coupons or redeem their rewards point for last minute travel deals.
 
More than 30% of respondents confirmed they use their cell phones or tablets to find restaurants, petrol stations, coupons and deals while away on holidays.
 
Before departing for their summer destination, 22% also use their mobile to program their holidays, researching for hotels and places to see, while 14% book their trip from their mobile device.
 
Some of them would also like to have a mobile application to redeem their rewards, 58% would not only to reserve, but pay for their hotels using rewards redeemed through their devices.
 
Nearly half of them (49%) would like to do the same to buy their airplane tickets.

Half of Americans plan to use rewards credit cards to pay for summer holidays

By Raphael Michilis
At least 67% of rewards credit card holders in the US plan to travel this summer, and half of them said they will use their cards to cover part of their trip expenses, according to the Rewards Barometer, a research conducted quarterly by BIGinsight for the financial corporation Capital One.
 
The 2011 edition of the research had found out 42% of respondents said they would use rewards cards to pay for their vacation expenses, 8 percentage points below this years’ result.
 
The majority of rewards card holders (54%) plan to spend between $500 and $2000 in their summer holidays this year.
 
For other 18% of respondents, the 2012 summer getaway budget will from $2,001 to U$3,000. 
 
The study also found out that almost two-thirds of the American reaward card holders do not plan to go away on popular summer holiday weekends such as Memorial Day, July 4th and Labour Day. 
 
Redemption
 
The Rewards Barometer also investigated how Americans plan to redeem their points, and found out that 58% of summer travellers will buy plane tickets with their credit card rewards. 
 
The second most popular redemption option is hotel expenses, with 42% of respondents likely to deduct it from their rewards, followed by fuel 18%. 
 
"Flexible rewards programs that allow cardholders to redeem their rewards when and how they want can make that vacation dream an affordable reality. When choosing a new rewards program, consumers should consider both the value of rewards and the ease of using them," advises Amy Lenander, Vice President of Rewards Programs at Capital One.

India: Electronic payments up, but cheque transactions are still higher

By Raphael Michilis
Electronic payments transactions in India rose by 27,7% in the 2011-12 period, and their volume was up nearly 70% year-on-year, showing unquestionable rising of its popularity.


However, cheques are still the preferred form of payment for high value transactions in the country, reports The Hindu Business Line.


According to the newspaper the traditional paper payment mode accounted for INR 98.9 lakh crore (about USD1.7trn) while the electronic counterparts accounted for only INR 22 lakh crore(USD 391bn) in 2011-12, says the newspaper.


More than INR 115.9 crore credit card, debit card, electronic clearing services (ECS) and national electronic fund transfers (NEFT) took place that year. A little less than the INR 134.1 crore payments made through cheques.


On the other hand, business with cheques followed another trend, falling around 3% in volume and the value of transactions in that period.


The volume of e-payments rose almost 10 times and the value of transactions around four-fold by 2011-12 from 2003-04 levels.


In contrast, the number of transactions using cheques registered slower growth of around 31% and the value has plunged about 15%.